Curtain rod bracket

ABSTRACT

A support bracket is provided for a curtain rod on at least one end of which rod is a flat-headed stud adapted for supporting the rod. The bracket employs a base appropriately secured to a wall or window frame. A support web is mounted on the base extending outwardly therefrom and a U-shaped receptacle element for the flat-headed stud is mounted on the web. The receptacle is formed by bending and stamping operations employing metal adjacent to the upper margin of the web to provide first a horizontal bridge element, a bracket face element bent downwardly parallel to the web, and a stop element bent toward the web at the bottom of the face element. The receptacle is adapted to receive and resiliently retain the flat-headed stud of the rod, but at the same time it is proof against accidentally being bent away from the web by normal forces applied to the rod. The blank from which the bracket is stamped provides an economical use of metal. Also the structure lends itself entirely to bending operations and is made from a single piece of metal with all elements integrally connected. In addition, no projections on the bracket can lock into any gaps or slots of like brackets so that during collection, processing, or distribution groups of the brackets are proof against accidental interlocking.

llnie illiamson States atet 1 1 1 CURTAIN ROD BRACKET [75] Inventor: John E. Williamson, West Barrington, R1.

221 Filed: on. 12, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 80,057

[52] U.S. Cl. 248/263 [51] Int. Cl. A47h l/lO, A47h 5/14 [58] Field of Search 248/251, 263, 261, 262,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,070,144 8/1913 Lathrop 248/262 1,242,441 10/1917 Hills 248/263 1,284,726 11/1918 Losey 248/263 1,581,805 4/1926 Kirsch i 248/257 2,473,293 6/1949 Nelson 248/264 2,809,798 10/1957 Kenney 248/263 Primary Examiner-J. Franklin Foss [57] ABSTRACT A support bracket is provided for a curtain rod on at Dec. 311, 1974 least one end of which rod is a flat-headed stud adapted for supporting the rod. The bracket employs a base appropriately secured to a wall or window frame. A support web is mounted on the base extending outwardly therefrom and a U-shaped receptacle element for the flat-headed stud is mounted on the web. The receptacle is formed by bending and stamping operations employing metal adjacent to the upper margin of the web to provide first a horizontal bridge element, a bracket face element bent downwardly parallel to the web, and a stop element bent toward the web at the bottom of the face element. The receptacle is adapted to receive and resiliently retain the flat-headed stud of the rod, but at the same time it is proof against accidentally being bent away from the web by normal forces applied to the rod. The blank from which the bracket is stamped provides an economical use of metal. Also the structure lends itself entirely to bending operations and is made from a single piece of metal with all elements integrally connected. In addition, no projections'on the bracket can lock into any gaps or slots of like brackets so that during collection,

processing, or distribution groups of the brackets are proof against accidental interlocking.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUEBWQM 3.857.538 S'HEET 10F 2 INVENTOR.

I CURTAIN ROI) BRACKET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to drapery rod support brackets and more particularly to support brackets for rods which employ terminal fiat-headed studs on the rod ends for support purposes. Still more specifically the invention is an improvement over the structure described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,809,798, issued to W. C. Kenney, and hereinafter referred to as the Kenney patent.

Among the problems presented in this context is the provision of a bracket which, at one and the same time, is capable of holding the fiat-headed stud releasably locked in place under spring compression and be proof against accidental bending beyond the elastic limit of the metal so as to destroy the resilient locking feature. The bracket of the said Kenney patent provided some resistance to such bending, but it was not proof against it.

Another problem relates to accidental opening of the spring locking elements beyond their elastic limit during manufacture. With the construction of the said Kenney patent a very troublesome situation arose in which groups of brackets would become inter-locked when collected together in baskets or hoppers for treatment or packaging, and also when subsequently packaged. Frequently, the only way to separate them would be to do it forceably, and in so doing, a substantial percentage of the brackets would be distorted and require repair or rejection.

Still another problem has to do with simplicity and economy of construction. The bracket of the said Kenney patent involved a serious metal waste during stamping if the unitary structure of FIGS. 7 and 8 of the said Kenney patent were employed, or conversely and extra manufacturing cost if the spot welded construction of FIGS. 2, 3, and 6 thereof were employed.

Accordingly objects of this invention are to provide a bracket'which is proof against accidental bending of the locking components beyond their elastic limit either in ultimate use or during manufacture and distribution. Another object has to do with efficiency in manufacture. The aim is to provide a unitary structure suitable for production by simple handling operations from a single blank and with a minimum of metal waste in the process.

BRIEF SUMMARY In a preferred embodiment of my invention I employ a support bracket for a curtain rod on which a flatheaded stud is mounted for supporting the rod, which bracket comprises a sheet metal blank bent first to form a base which is adapted for attachment to a wall, window case, or the like. Along one margin of the base and bent outwardly is a main support web. At the upper margin of the web the metal is first bent horizontally to provide a bridge element, then downwardly parallel to the web to provide a bracket face element and finally back toward the web to provide a stop element. The bridge and bracket face elements are stamped (prior to bending) to provide an open-topped U-shaped receptacle for receiving and retaining the flat-headed stud of the curtain rod, and the bridge and stop elements hold the bracket face element appropriately spaced from the web to receive the head of the stud. Also a detent is provided on the web in position to bear against the upper end of the head when it is in place so as to resiliently lock it there.

A feature of this arrangement is that the bridge elements prevent downward tilting forces, caused by sagging of the rod under a curtain load, from pulling the upper portion of the bracket face away from the web. The web bends or twists, but the spacing between bracket face and web remains the same, and the resilient forces retaining the head in place are, in no way, influenced by the downward tilting forces encountered in normal use of the rod.

In addition the web, bridge, bracket face and stop elements provide an enclosed structure which is proof against interlocking or telescoping during collection, treating or distribution.

Moreover, the structure is unitary and is made from a single blank. Also, since the bridge, face and stop elements are derived from metal along the upper margin -of the web, metal stamping and formation is accomplished with a minimum of metal waste.

Additional objects and features will best be understood and appreciated from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment selected for purposes of illustration and shown'in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of a typical curtain installation of the type with which this invention is employed.

FIG. 2 is a view in front elevation of a curtain rod of the type employed with the bracket of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the bracket of this invention adapted for supporting the left hand end of a single rod.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of this invention adapted for supporting the left hand ends of two rods. FIG. 5 is a view in front elevation of the bracket of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a progressive blank employed to form a bracket of the prior art, and

FIG. 7 is a progressive blank employed to form the bracket of this invention.

The preferred embodiment herein shown is adapted for mounting a curtain rod 10 of the type shown generally in FIG. 2 for supporting curtains'as is shown generally in FIG. 1.

The rod 10 is provided with a rod end supporting arrangement including a ferrule 12 and a stud 14. The stud 14 has a shank portion 13 and a flat head portion 15 of greater diameter than the shank portion 13.

I The bracket is made from a sheet metal blank shown in FIG. 7, and comprises a base 16 adapted for attachment to a wall, window frame or the like. The blank of FIG. 7 shows right and left hand brackets, but a left hand bracket only is shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, it being understood that the elements of one form are identical to the other except reversed. The base 16 is bent along one margin to form a forwardly extending support web 18, and along the top margin of the web 18 the metal is bent horizontally to provide bridge elements 20, then downwardly parallel to web 18 to provide a bracket face element 22, and then again horizontally toward the web 18 to provide a stop element 24. The blank is perforated in the area of face element 22 and bridge elements 20 to provide an open topped, U-shaped receptacle 26 for receiving and retaining the head of the stud 14. The receptacle 26 has a wide opening at the top between bridge elements 20 adapted to receive the head portion of the stud from which the receptacle 26 is tapers to a narrower mid-point and thence downwardly in a parallel sided U dimensioned to receive the shank portion 13 of the stud 14. The face element 22 is spaced from the web 18 sufficiently to permit the head 15 of the stud to fit therebetween, and this spacing is maintained by the bridge elements and stop element 24. Thus, if a'heavy load on the curtain rod should cause it to bend downwardly, the bridge elements 20 hold the upper portions of the face element 22 from bending away from the web 18. Since the upper end of the head of the stud (see dotted lines in FIG. 5) is so near to bridge elements 20, the web 18 will twist before the face element 22 will pull away from the web 18.

In order to hold the head of the stud 14 in place in the receptacle 26, a detent 28 is provided on the face of theweb 18 positioned to bear resiliently against the upper edge of the head of the stud 14 when the stud 14 is fully lodged in receptacle 26. In this way the stud is held snugly in place under resilient compression.

The saving in metal derived from the present invention over the bracket of the above said Kenney patent is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In these figures a blank is shown in several stages only of the stamping sequence. The stages are not complete and many of the details are omitted because the only purpose of FIGS. 6 and 7 is to illustrate the metal saving. The dotted lines between the Figures represent the width of the respective blanks, with the blank of FIG. 6 representing the said Kenney patent and that of FIG. 7 representing the present invention. Thus, assuming everything else to be equal, that is, the dimensions of the base 16 and the webs 18 being the same, employing the present invention effects a metal saving of about 22 percent, while still providing a unitary structure which can be made is one progressive stamping and bending sequence.

In addition, it will be noted that stop element 24 closes the gap between face element 22 and web 18 so that the finished bracket has no openings by which brackets can become interlocked during collection, processing, or distribution.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of my invention, various modifications will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, the bridge elements 20 together with face element 22 and stop element 24 can be bent in the opposite direction. Also a second support web can be formed on the opposite margin of web 18 to provide a single center bracket for two axially aligned rods meeting at a central point between sides of a window. Such a construction necessitates a more complicated stamping and bending sequence, but yet the bracket components still come within the spirit of this invention. Still other modifications will be obvious and therefore it is not my intention to confine the invention to the precise form herein shown but rather to limit it terms only of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. For a curtain rod having a stud mounted on one end for supporting that end of the rod, which stud has a shank portion adjacent the rod and a flat head portion of greater dimension transverse to the rod axis than the corresponding dimension of said shank portion, a support bracket comprising: a base, a support web on said base extending outwardly therefrom, a generally U- shaped receptacle having upwardly extending arms, the upper portions of said arms spaced from each other by an amount greater than said transverse dimension of said stud head portion, the lower portions of said arms spaced from each other by an amount less than said transverse dimension of said stud head portion but greater than the corresponding dimension of said stud shank portion whereby said rod when engaged in said bracket is supported against downward tilting forces by the pressure of said arms and support web against said stud head, means for connecting the upper ends of said arms to said web and for holding said upper ends in fixed spacial relation to said web, and stop means on a lower margin of said receptacle bridging the space between said lower margin and said web to prevent motion of the lower portion of said receptacle toward said web.

2. The support bracket defined in claim 1 further characterized by said generally U-shaped receptacle defining an open-topped U having inwardly inclined walls tapering from the top downwardly to a midpoint and walls thereafter extending downwardly from said midpoint in parallel relation to the bottom of said U, said parallel walls defining an opening only slightly larger than said stud shank portion.

3. The support bracket defined in claim 1 further characterized by said receptacles being spaced from said web by a dimension substantially equal to the thickness of the head on said stud.

4. The support bracket defined in claim 1 further characterized by a detent on the surface of said web when said stud is fully lodged in said receptacle.

5. For a curtain rod having a stud mounted on one end for supporting that end of the rod, which stud has a shank portion adjacent the rod and a flat head portion of greater dimension transverse to the rod axis than the corresponding dimension of said shank portion, a support bracket comprising: a base adapted for mounting on a wall, a support web on said base extending outwardly therefrom, and extension of an upper margin of said web bent first horizontally and then downwardly and then back again toward said web to provide successively a bridge element, a bracket face element, and a stop element, walls within said bridge and face elements forming an opentopped, generally U-shaped opening of greater lateral dimension at the upper portion thereof than at the lower portion, said opening adapted to receive the shank portion of said stud between said walls and the head portion of said stud between said bracket face and support web, whereby downward bending forces applied to said bracket from I said rod are communicated to said web through said bridge elements without distorting the spacing between said web and said bracket face.

6. A support bracket defined in claim 5 further characterized by said stop element's abutting said wev and preventing said face element from moving toward said web in the lower areas thereof.

7. A support bracket defined in claim 5 further characterized by said bridge and stop elements being dimensioned to provide a narrow space between said face and said web substantially equal to the thickness of said head.

8. A support bracket defined in claim 5 further characterized by means including a detent contacting the upper margin of said head when said stud is fully lodged in said U-shaped opening.

9. For a curtain rod having a stud mounted on one end for supporting that end of the rod, which stud has a shank portion adjacent the rod and a flat head portion of greater dimension transverse to the rod axis than the corresponding dimension of said shank portion, a support bracket comprising: a base, a support web on said base extending outwardly therefrom, a generally U- 

1. For a curtain rod having a stud mounted on one end for supporting that end of the rod, which stud has a shank portion adjacent the rod and a flat head portion of greater dimension transverse to the rod axis than the corresponding dimension of said shank portion, a support bracket comprising: a base, a support web on siad base extending outwardly therefrom, a generally U-shaped receptacle having upwardly extending arms, the upper portions of said arms spaced from each other by an amount greater than Said transverse dimension of said stud head portion, the lower portions of said arms spaced from each other by an amount less than said transverse dimension of said stud head portion but greater than the corresponding dimension of said stud shank portion whereby said rod when engaged in said bracket is supported against downward tilting forces by the pressure of said arms and support web against said stud head, means for connecting the upper ends of said arms to said web and for holding said upper ends in fixed spacial relation to said web, and stop means on a lower margin of said receptacle bridging the space between said lower margin and said web to prevent motion of the lower portion of said receptacle toward said web.
 2. The support bracket defined in claim 1 further characterized by said generally U-shaped receptacle defining an open-topped U having inwardly inclined walls tapering from the top downwardly to a midpoint and walls thereafter extending downwardly from said midpoint in parallel relation to the bottom of said U, said parallel walls defining an opening only slightly larger than said stud shank portion.
 3. The support bracket defined in claim 1 further characterized by said receptacle''s being spaced from said web by a dimension substantially equal to the thickness of the head on said stud.
 4. The support bracket defined in claim 1 further characterized by a detent on the surface of said web facing said receptacle and said detent positioned and arranged to contact the upper margin of said head when said stud is fully lodged in said receptacle.
 5. For a curtain rod having a stud mounted on one end for supporting that end of the rod, which stud has a shank portion adjacent the rod and a flat head portion of greater dimension transverse to the rod axis than the corresponding dimension of said shank portion, a support bracket comprising: a base adapted for mounting on a wall, a support web on said base extending outwardly therefrom, and extension of an upper margin of said web bent first horizontally and then downwardly and then back again toward said web to provide successively a bridge element, a bracket face element, and a stop element, walls within said bridge and face elements forming an opentopped, generally U-shaped opening of greater lateral dimension at the upper portion thereof than at the lower portion, said opening adapted to receive the shank portion of said stud between said walls and the head portion of said stud between said bracket face and support web, whereby downward bending forces applied to said bracket from said rod are communicated to said web through said bridge elements without distorting the spacing between said web and said bracket face.
 6. A support bracket defined in claim 5 further characterized by said stop element''s abutting said wev and preventing said face element from moving toward said web in the lower areas thereof.
 7. A support bracket defined in claim 5 further characterized by said bridge and stop elements'' being dimensioned to provide a narrow space between said face and said web substantially equal to the thickness of said head.
 8. A support bracket defined in claim 5 further characterized by means including a detent contacting the upper margin of said head when said stud is fully lodged in said U-shaped opening.
 9. For a curtain rod having a stud mounted on one end for supporting that end of the rod, which stud has a shank portion adjacent the rod and a flat head portion of greater dimension transverse to the rod axis than the corresponding dimension of said shank portion, a support bracket comprising: a base, a support web on said base extending outwardly therefrom, a generally U-shaped receptacle having upwardly extending arms spaced and arranged to receive and retain said stud, means for connecting the upper ends of said arms to said web and for holding said upper ends in fixed spacial relation to said web, and stop means on a lower margin of said receptacle; and the saId base, U-shaped receptacle, connecting means and stop means being spaced and arranged free of any interlocking projections. 